Before the turkey hits, let's review what we can be thankful for, in the past year or so's restaurant scene:

1. Consistently fine, smart little places. Vietnam Grille, I'm talking about you, and Tria Terra, and Sadie's, to name a very varied few.

2. Butter and flour and sugar every second of every day. When Amelie's French Bakery went to being open 24 hours a day this year, folks bit their nails. Now they're biting into palmiers and petits fours, croissants and coconut macaroons, anytime they want.

3. More vegetable vim and vigor than we've seen in years. From Real Food Charlotte (serving vegetarian and raw foods only) to Harvest Moon Grille (the Grateful Growers food cart that makes uptown and regional farmer's market stops) to Savor Café, we're seeing options that have been rare to nonexistent.

4. Perseverance. How amazing is it that Carpe Diem and Customshop, among others, managed to stay alive during the Byzantine construction period (it took about as long as the Byzantine period, didn't it?) that cut off Elizabeth Avenue from most of humanity?

5. A little chutzpah, or should we say "le courage"? That's what it takes to open a place with a $52 entree, or to admit you enjoy them as a diner these days (emphasized to me by commenters to my blog post. Want to take a look? Click here.) So a doff of the chapeau to BLT Steak from the Ritz-Carlton and chef Laurent Tourondel.

6. Pure guts. That's what it takes to open in this economy. So my hat's off to Vivace, Good Food on Montford, The Liberty, Soul, Crepe Cellar, Fran's Filling Station, Mez, Basil and Common House - and to places such as East Blvd. Bar & Grill, which invested in a move/renovation.

7. New gigs. Top Charlotte chefs left longtime homes this year - Tim Groody from Sonoma, Tom Condron from Harper's, Blake Hartwick from Bonterra, Jason Pound from Aquavina - but their food didn't disappear from Charlotte. Groody has done farm dinners with Sammy Koenigsberg, Condron opened The Liberty, Hartwick went to Andrew Blair's, and Pound is at Soul.

8. Excitement on tap. And no, I don't only mean J.D. Duncan's plan to open Icehouse and serve lots of beer in South End's Atherton Mill; I also mean Pierre Bader's Italian entry Aria uptown at Founders Hall (second week of January is the target opening) and Jim Noble's ongoing barbecue research, which he logs in lovingly at myhogblog.net.

9. Most of all, that we didn't lose as many places as we could have. I anticipated a lot more closings this year and while 2009 isn't over yet, plenty of hard-working restaurant folk who put their heads down (and prices, too) will have made it through the year, against all odds. Credit diners who supported their favorites through hard times, too. If you're not in that group, you've still got a month.